DOCSLIB.ORG

YUTORAH in PRINT Chukat 5781

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
YUTORAH in PRINT Chukat 5781 The Marcos and Adina Katz YUTORAH IN PRINT Chukat 5781 For The Love Of Life Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm z”l (Originally delivered March 19, 1960) ne of the least understood portions of the entire us so that at the very least we might better appreciate the Torah is that dealing with the laws of tumah and Divine wisdom which inheres in every word of Torah. taharah, ritual impurity and the cleansing from Our Torah is a Torah of life. It teaches us to love life, Othat state of impurity. In most cases, these laws no longer to cherish it, to enhance it. It is called Torat chayyim, apply today. An example might be that of which we read the law of life, and is referred to as Etz chayyim hi la- in today’s Parshat Parah, concerning the purification of machazikim bah, a tree of life to those who support it. Its one who had been defiled by coming into contact with purpose is ve’chai ba-hem--that we attain life through the a corpse. These laws do not apply, because the principal commandments written therein. G-d’s greatest gift to man effect of tumah is that the person who becomes tamei, above all is: life. unclean, may not enter the sanctuary or eat of the flesh of a And in order to ensure this emphasis in life, in order to Korban, a sacrifice, such as the Korban Pesach. Since today secure this affirmation of the principle of life, the Torah we no longer have a temple, nor do we have any sacrifices, negatively bids us to keep away from death. Thus while hence most forms of tumah are no longer in effect, except the religions of the ancient world had their priests spend for the one kind where the law deals with that sort of most of their time in ministrations to the dead, our Torah tumah which has consequences for domestic life as well. gave our priests, our Kohanim, instructions to do the exact These laws of tumah are sorely misunderstood. Some reverse: Le-nefesh lo yitama b’amav, he may not defile people who read the Bible only superficially have come himself by contact with any dead, except for certain very to the conclusion that they are merely guides to hygiene, close relatives. Thus too, G-d originally forbade man to and that hence they have no deeper spiritual meaning and destroy animal life even for the purpose of food. Few of us are totally irrelevant in this age of scientific prophylaxis. may realize that by Divine decree Adam was a vegetarian, Others have imagined that they are a form of Jewish for only later, to the children of Noah, did G-d grant the magical taboo. concession allowing them to partake of animal flesh. Thus What does our tradition teach us about the meaning too, the principle of pikuach nefesh takes precedence over of the laws of tumah and tahara? Generally, Judaism all commandments save three, and whenever there is a discourages probing too deeply into the meaning or reason danger to life all commandments except these three are for these commandments. Especially with regard to the ignored. laws of Parah Adumah which we read of in today’s Parshat In order to express powerfully this love of life, this Parah, our tradition teaches us that this ritual must forever abhorrence of death, we have the laws of tumah. Almost remain a mystery, and the secret of the red heifer must for all these laws, in all their various forms and in all their all eternity remain concealed from the inquisitive eyes of ramifications, remind us of this principle of love of life. Our human reason. Nevertheless, while we shall not presume to portion deals with the defilement that comes from direct discover Divine intention, I do want to share with you what contact with a dead body or a dead organ. Such a person I recently heard in the name of a great rabbi of our century, is declared tamei--unclean. There is the tumat tzaraat, the the Kovner Rav, an explanation which makes the laws of state of uncleanliness of the leper. For the leper is one tumah and taharah more meaningful and more relevant to on whom patches of skin, a part of his body, have died. YUTORAH IN PRINT • A PROJECT OF YESHIVA Chukat 5781 UNIVERSITY’S CENTER FOR THE JEWISH FUTURE 1 Download thousands of audio shiurim and articles at www.yutorah.org Hence--tumah. There is tumat zav and tumat niddah: In resurgence of life. And after the Jew drinks water he recites certain cases, the one natural and the other pathological, the blessing of Boreh Nefashot, in which we praise G-d for when certain issues flow from the human body, then too, creating many souls and for their needs providing a world, the Torah declares a state of tumah, for here there is a loss le’hachayot bahem nefesh kol chai, with which to keep by the human body, in one case the female and in one case alive the soul of every human being. Water, thus, is the the male, of the potential for a life, of that physiological symbol of life. substance from which life, under other circumstances, Tevillah be’mayim, therefore, represents the love of life. could have been created. When this vital matter is lost, It is a rededication to life. The most appropriate way of when the potential for life is wasted--there is a state of ridding oneself of tumah, of the state of having been too tumah. close to death, is that of immersion in water. Taharah is the So that the major guiding principle of the laws of tumah process that reverses tumah. We triumph over death by a is: the love for life, negatively expressed as an abhorrence greater dedication to life. Whether our brush with death and detestation of death. When the Jew has contact with came through tumat met or tumat tzaraat or tamat niddah, death in any of the ways discussed, he is tamei, and as such or tumat zav, the way of taharah is by washing one’s self he may neither enter the temple nor eat of the sacrificial with the very symbol of life itself, with water. Therefore, flesh until the state of tumah has been replaced by taharah- too, the Gentile who wishes to become a Jew, a Ger, is also -a state of purity and ritual cleanliness. required to perform tevillah be’mayim: this symbolizes his How does one achieve this taharah? There are different rebirth as a Jew, he begins life all over again as he emerges details for each case. Thus in the case of tumat met, from the waters of proselytization. defilement by direct contact with death as we read of it in It is interesting to point out that in prescribing water as a today’s Parshat Parah, there is required the ritual of the red form of taharah, the Halakhah specify that not all kinds of heifer, the Parah Adumah. In the case of tumat tzaraat, the water are valid for this purpose. Only the waters of a well or uncleanliness that inheres in leprosy, there is another set naturally gathered pool, a ma’ayan or mikvah, are sufficient of regulations. The other forms of tumah have additional for the purpose of the process of taharah. But water that is requirements in order to achieve taharah. But common to artificially gathered into one place, called mayim she’uvim, every one of them, integral in the very heart of the process is not valid for taharah. What is the reason for this? When of taharah is tevillah be’mayim--the immersion of one’s self a person is tamei, he or she must achieve purification or in water. Any man and any woman who is tamei, achieves taharah only in a natural stream or pool, because that water taharah through water. symbolizes life, and only G-d, the Creator of Nature, is the Why water? Because water above all is the symbol Author of life. Man, despite his conquest over nature, is not of life. It is the most universal substance without which the author of life. When we eschew mayim she’uvim and life is impossible. An ancient Greek pagan philosopher, insist upon ma’ayan or mikvah, we reaffirm not only our Thales, was led by his observations to maintain that love for life, but our belief that only G-d is the master over water is the primordial substance from which all else life, and that man cannot be trusted with control over this was created. Earlier than him, and with greater scientific most precious gift of G-d to man. accuracy, our Torah declared that in the beginning G-d We do not need a Schweitzer, noble a person as he is, to created heaven and earth and the earth was filled with teach us reverence for life. Our Torah taught the love for water. Contemporary astronomers gazing through their life 3000 years earlier. And where Jews have practiced these telescopes at some distant planet or other celestial body, laws in the days of the temple, and those laws which remain when they want to know if on that planet or body life is which are applicable today, they have known and practiced possible, will first investigate the content of water in its this love for life. atmosphere. The greatest part of our own bodies is made What a pity that there are those of our fellow Jews up of water.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • (Mk 1:44): Jesus, Purity, and the Christian Study of Judaism Paula Fredriksen, Boston University
    "Go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded" (Mk 1:44): Jesus, Purity, and the Christian Study of Judaism Paula Fredriksen, Boston University In the last century, and especially in the last few decades, historians of Christianity have increasingly understood Jesus of Nazareth as a participant in the Judaism of his day. Many scholars, however, even when emphasizing Jesus' Jewish ethics, or his Jewish scriptural sensibility, or even the apocalyptic convictions which he shared with so many of his contemporaries, nevertheless draw the line at the biblical laws of purity. These laws rarely appear realistically integrated into an historical reconstruction of Jesus. Allied as they are with the ancient system of sacrifices, they seem obscure to modern religious sensibility; and with the Roman destruction of the Temple in 70, they soon became irrelevant to the later, largely Gentile church. Perhaps, too, such purity codes -- a hallmark of virtually all ancient religions -- are too disturbingly archaic to fit comfortably with modern constructions of Jesus and his message. Very recently, a handful of prominent New Testament historians and theologians have even argued that Jesus taught and acted specifically against the purity codes of his native Judaism. The repudiation of the biblical rules of purity, "the taboos of Torah," stood, they say, at the very heart of Jesus' ministry. Marcus Borg, for example, has urged that Jesus fought the "politics of purity," motivated as he was by a vision of a more compassionate society. Similarly, John Dominic Crossan portrays Jesus as a radical social egalitarian for whom the purity codes of the Temple system were morally and socially anathema.
    [Show full text]
  • E Essence of Purity
    112 | על מהות הטהרה !e Essence of Purity e Red Heifer and the Color Wheel One of the great fundamentals revealed in the Torah is the process of shaking off the defilement of death. It is effected via the ashes of the Parah Adumah , the mysterious Red Heifer. By sprinkling a mixture of ashes of a red cow, water and other ingredients upon one who is “impure,” his status changes to “pure.” "e Torah itself calls this process a special chukah, a unique statute, implying that the human intellect cannot properly understand it. Nevertheless, let us try, with the limited means at our disposal, to approach an understanding of some of the sublime concepts embodied in the Red Heifer purification process – if only to fulfill the words of our master and prophet, Moshe Rabbeinu: ִ... <ִי הָוא חְכַמְתֶכ! 1ִבַינְתֶכְ! לֵ:ֵינָי ּהַ:ִמ 9י! ׁאֶש ִר ׁיְש ְמֵע01 אָּת כַל הֻחִּקי! ָּהֵאֶל ְה וָאְמַר1 רַק :ָ! חָכְ! וָנַב0A הADַי ּהָג ַדAל ּהֶזה. ...for [the Torah] is your wisdom and your understanding in the eyes of the nations, who will hea r all these statutes and say, “Only this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” ִ... 1מָי ADי ּג 9דAל ׁאֶש ֻר לA חִּקִי! 1ׁמְש ָּפִטַי! צ ִּדִיקְּ! כַכֹל הAFָרַה ּהזֹאת... ... and which great nation has righteous statutes and ordinances, as this entire Torah? ... (D’varim 4,6-8) The Essence of Purity | Metzora | 113 To this end, we will turn to the physical world, and specifically to the world of color. Let us study the spectrum of the seven colors of the rainbow formed by the diffusion of light rays by drops of water or a prism.
    [Show full text]
  • Thought Control Written by Ozer Bergman | April 4, 2021
    Thought Control written by Ozer Bergman | April 4, 2021 It’s all in the mind. “Where do our thoughts come from?” is a question I was recently asked. The short answer is that there are two “reservoirs” (as I like to call them) of thought. One reservoir contains holy thoughts: how to imitate God by being patient, forgiving and doing kindness; how to be more sincere in one’s devotions—for example, davening (prayer) and Torah study; how to raise one’s standard of behavior and thought in relation to money, food and morality. The other reservoir contains thoughts contrary to the above, as well as thoughts that encourage the pursuit and enjoyment of sacrilegious attitudes and behaviors. The reservoir from which one receives depends on how good a person one is. If you’re good in ways a tzaddik would be good, you receive from the first reservoir. Bad guys, evilniks and people indifferent to matters of the neshamah (soul) get their thoughts from Reservoir #2. (This answer is based on the second half of Rebbe Nachman’s Wisdom #5.) Like most short answers and other incomplete pictures, this one leaves out a lot and, as a result, can be misleading. Even though it tells us that we can help determine our thoughts by our positive behaviors and desire to be good, it leaves out a critical piece of information—namely, that we can actually choose what we want to think and what we think. A person’s arm doesn’t fly around haphazardly. He chooses when to lift it, when to lower it, when to touch something gently and when violently.
    [Show full text]
  • Tumas Kohen: Impure Contact the Judaism Site
    Torah.org Tumas Kohen: Impure Contact The Judaism Site https://torah.org/torah-portion/livinglaw-5766-pinchas/ TUMAS KOHEN: IMPURE CONTACT by Rabbi Osher Chaim Levene The Mitzvah: An ordinary kohein, priest may not come in contact with a corpse or any other spiritually defiled object although he is permitted to defile himself for his immediate seven close relatives (Leviticus 21:1, 3, 11). The laws of tumah and taharah, ritual purity and contamination which are related to death are detailed and complex. Their full application was poignantly seen in the sacrificial worship and offerings present in the Sanctuary and later on in its permanent structure of the Temple. Any man or woman who was spiritually impure could not enter the sacred walls of the House of G-d. Nor could such a person consume the sacrificial parts that had to be consumed in a state of ritual purity. Today, the laws of tumah and taharah have unfortunately limited application to the contemporary Jew upon the destruction of the Temple. However it still remains ever-relevant to a kohein who is continually subject to these laws. The descendants of Aharon must be vigilant to avoid contamination with any object or subject that is impure or which transmits ritual impurity. This precludes him, for example, from entering a cemetery where he will come in close proximity to the graves or to entering a morgue etc In short, the kohein cannot have anything to do with death or impurity. So much so, that should a kohein kill another person, he becomes unqualified to bless the congregation in Birchas Kohanim, priestly blessings.
    [Show full text]
  • Kohelet, Tolstoy and the Red Heifer (Chukat 5780)
    בס"ד חקת תש״ף Chukat 5780 Scan (after Shabbat) to join one of Rabbi Sacks’ WhatsApp groups. “With thanks to Te Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation for their generous sponsorship of Covenant & Conversation. Maurice was a visionary philanthropist. Vivienne was a woman of the deepest humility. Together, they were a unique partnership of dedication and grace, for whom living was giving.” Kohelet, Tolstoy and the Red Heifer The command of the parah adumah, the Red Heifer, with which our parsha begins, is known as the hardest of the mitzvot to understand. The opening words, zot chukat ha-Torah, are taken to mean, this is the supreme example of a chok in the Torah, that is, a law whose logic is obscure, perhaps unfathomable. It was a ritual for the purification of those who had been in contact with, or in, certain forms of proximity to a dead body. A dead body is the primary source of impurity, and the defilement it caused to the living meant that the person so affected could not enter the precincts of the Tabernacle or Temple until cleansed, in a process that lasted seven days. A key element of the purification process involved a Priest sprinkling the person so affected, on the third and seventh day, with a specially prepared liquid known as “the water of cleansing.” First a Red Heifer had to be found, without a blemish, and which had never been used to perform work: a yoke had never been placed on it. This was ritually killed and burned outside the camp. Cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet wool were added to the fire, and the ashes placed in a vessel containing “living” i.e.
    [Show full text]
  • Defining Purity and Impurity Parshat Sh’Mini, Leviticus 6:1- 11:47| by Mark Greenspan “The Dietary Laws” by Rabbi Paul S
    Defining Purity and Impurity Parshat Sh’mini, Leviticus 6:1- 11:47| by Mark Greenspan “The Dietary Laws” by Rabbi Paul S. Drazen, (pp.305-338) in The Observant Life Introduction A few weeks before Passover reports came in from the Middle East that a cloud of locust had descended upon Egypt mimicking the eighth plague of the Bible. When the wind shifted direction the plague of locust crossed over the border into Israel. There was great excitement in Israel when some rabbis announced that the species of locust that had invaded Israel were actually kosher! Offering various recipes Rabbi Natan Slifkin announced that there was no reason that Jews could not adopt the North African custom of eating the locust. Slifkin wrote: “I have eaten locusts on several occasions. They do not require a special form of slaughter and one usually kills them by dropping them into boiling water. They can be cooked in a variety of ways – lacking any particular culinary skills I usually just fry them with oil and some spices. It’s not the taste that is distinctive so much as the tactile experience of eating a bug – crunchy on the outside with a chewy center!” Our first reaction to the rabbi’s announcement is “Yuck!” Yet his point is well taken. While we might have a cultural aversion to locusts there is nothing specifically un-Jewish about eating them. The Torah speaks of purity and impurity with regard to food. Kashrut has little to do with hygiene, health, or culinary tastes. We are left to wonder what makes certain foods tamei and others tahor? What do we mean when we speak about purity with regard to kashrut? The Torah Connection These are the instructions (torah) concerning animals, birds, all living creatures that move in water and all creatures that swarm on earth, for distinguishing between the impure (tamei) and the pure (tahor), between living things that may be eaten and the living things that may not be eaten.
    [Show full text]
  • Mikveh and the Sanctity of Being Created Human
    chapter 3 Mikveh and the Sanctity of Being Created Human Susan Grossman This paper was approved by the CJLS on September 13, 2006 by a vote of four- teen in favor, one opposed and four abstaining (14-1-4). Members voting in favor: Rabbis Kassel Abelson, Elliot Dorff, Aaron Mackler, Robert Harris, Robert Fine, David Wise, Daniel Nevins, Alan Lucas, Joel Roth, Myron Geller, Pamela Barmash, Gordon Tucker, Vernon Kurtz, and Susan Grossman. Members voting against: Rabbi Leonard Levy. Members abstaining: Rabbis Joseph Prouser, Loel Weiss, Paul Plotkin, and Avram Reisner. Sheilah How should we, as modern Conservative Jews, observe the laws tradition- ally referred to under the rubric Tohorat HaMishpahah (The Laws of Family Purity)?1 Teshuvah Introduction Judaism is our path to holy living, for turning the world as it is into the world as it can be. The Torah is our guide for such an ambitious aspiration, sanctified by the efforts of hundreds of generations of rabbis and their communities to 1 The author wishes to express appreciation to all the following who at different stages com- mented on this work: Dr. David Kraemer, Dr. Shaye Cohen, Dr. Seth Schwartz, Dr. Tikva Frymer-Kensky, z”l, Rabbi James Michaels, Annette Muffs Botnick, Karen Barth, and the mem- bers of the CJLS Sub-Committee on Human Sexuality. I particularly want to express my appreciation to Dr. Joel Roth. Though he never published his halakhic decisions on tohorat mishpahah (“family purity”), his lectures and teaching guided countless rabbinical students and rabbinic colleagues on this subject. In personal communication with me, he confirmed that the below psak (legal decision) and reasoning offered in his name accurately reflects his teaching.
    [Show full text]
  • Niddah 2.0: Jewish Menstrual Purity in the Internet Age
    Niddah 2.0: Jewish Menstrual Purity in the Internet Age Master‘s Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Brandeis University Department of Near Eastern and Jewish Studies Professor Sylvia Barack Fishman, Advisor Professor Ellen Smith, Advisor In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Master‘s Degree by Ariella Sara Lis February 2011 Copyright by Ariella Sara Lis © 2011 Acknowledgments I would like to thank my advisors, Professor Sylvia Barack Fishman and Professor Ellen Smith for their patience, support, wisdom, and guidance throughout this project. I would also like to thank my parents, Lisa and Hannan Lis for listening to my complaints, concerns, and moments of less than calm nerves throughout the writing and research process. I would also like to thank Meredith Butler, close friend and fellow NEJS grad student for reminding me that yes – I can do this, and yes, what I have to say is quite valuable. Finally, I would like to thank my fiancé Tzvi Moshe Raviv, who found the time to support me, read my many drafts, listen to my ideas, cope with my increasing stress level, and even ask me to marry him. iii ABSTRACT Niddah 2.0: Jewish Menstrual Purity in the Internet Age A thesis presented to the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Brandeis University Waltham, Massachusetts By Ariella Sara Lis This thesis analyzes web based tools created by the Orthodox Jewish community to support women in their observance of Jewish menstrual purity ritual practice (JMPR). JMPR is a ritual derived from the Israelite Temple cult conditions of purity.
    [Show full text]
  • The Techniques of the Sacrifice
    Andm Univcrdy Seminary Stndics, Vol. 44, No. 1,13-49. Copyright 43 2006 Andrews University Press. THE TECHNIQUES OF THE SACRIFICE OF ANIMALS IN ANCIENT ISRAEL AND ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA: NEW INSIGHTS THROUGH COMPARISON, PART 1' JOANNSCURLOCK ELMHURSTCOLLEGE Elmhurst, Illinois There is an understandable desire among followers of religions that are monotheistic and that claim descent from ancient Israelite religion to see that religion as unique and completely at odds with its surroundrng polytheistic competitors. Most would not deny that there are at least a few elements of Israelite religion that are paralleled in neighboring cultures, as, e.g., the Hittites: 'I would like to thank the following persons who read and commented on earlier drafts of this article: R. Bed, M. Hilgert, S. Holloway, R. Jas, B. Levine and M. Murrin. Abbreviations follow those given in W. von Soden, AWches Han&rterbuch, 3 301s. (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1965-1981); and M. Jursa and M. Weszeli, "Register Assyriologie," AfO 40-41 (1993/94): 343-369, with the exception of the following: (a) series: D. 0.Edzard, Gnda and His Dynarg, Royal Inscriptions of Mesopommia: Early Periods (RIME) 311 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1997); S. Parpola and K. Watanabe, Neo-Assyrin Treatzes and Lq&y Oaths, State Archives of Assyria (SAA) 2 (Helsinki: Helsinki University Press, 1988); A. Livingstone, Court Poety and Literq Misceubnea, SAA 3 (Helsinki Helsinki University Press, 1989); I. Starr,QnerieJ to the Sungod, SAA 4 (Helsinki Helsinki University Press, 1990); T. Kwasrnan and S. Parpola, Lga/ Trama~~lom$the RoyaiCoz& ofNineveh, Part 1, SAA 6 (Helsinki Helsinki University Press, 1991); F.
    [Show full text]
  • The Law of the Red Heifer: a Type and Shadow of Jesus Christ
    Studia Antiqua Volume 4 Number 1 Article 4 April 2005 The Law of the Red Heifer: A Type and Shadow of Jesus Christ Mélbourne O'Banion Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/studiaantiqua Part of the Biblical Studies Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation O'Banion, Mélbourne. "The Law of the Red Heifer: A Type and Shadow of Jesus Christ." Studia Antiqua 4, no. 1 (2005). https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/studiaantiqua/vol4/iss1/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Studia Antiqua by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. The Law of the Red Heifer: A Type and Shadow of Jesus Christ Melbourne O'Banion he law of the red heifer, found in the book of Numbers, chapter 19, is one of the most significant and yet least T understood sacrificial laws in the Old Testament. This law, which governs the purification of those who become ritually unclean by contact with a corpse, was given to the children of Israel to be a "perpetual statute unto them" (Num. 19:21), and, like all other sacrifices, to ultimately point them to the Messiah. Jewish tradition teaches that only Moses knew the full mean­ ing of this chukkat, or law, which must be obeyed even though not understood. The Midrash says of chukim, "Four Torah laws can­ not be explained by human reason, but being divine, demand implicit obedience: to marry one's brother's widow (Deut.
    [Show full text]
  • THE CHEVRA Shabbos Parshas Young Israel of Fair Lawn the Morris J
    THE CHEVRA Shabbos Parshas Young Israel of Fair Lawn The Morris J. Kraut z’l Torah Center Chukas שבת פרשת חקת www.yifl.org Rabbi Eli Belizon Avi Zanjirian President June 22, 2018 Weekly Iyun Chabura Welcome! Our weekly Iyun Chabura learning Welcome to Ari and Shira Lewis ט תמוז תשע"ח Shacharis 7:00 AM Maseches Sanhedrin is on who moved into their new home Mincha 6:45 PM Wednesday nights starting at 9:15 with week with their children, Candle Lighting 6:58/8:14 PM pm. If you are interested in Amalya and Tani. Repeat Shema 8:57 PM participating, sponsoring ($54) and/or need help finding a chavrusa Parshas Ha’Shavua June 23, 2018 email [email protected]. Parashat Hukat – The Well of Miriam י תמוז תשע"ח Chevra Mishnayos 7:50 AM Scholar in Residence Rabbi Eli Mansour Shacharis 8:35 AM This shabbos we will be hosting Sof Zman K”S 9:11 AM Rabbi Jesse Horn of Yeshivas This week’s parasha, Parashat Hukat, Hakotel. Rabbi Horn will be giving begins with the laws of the para aduma Kiddush following davening the Shabbos morning drasha, a shiur (the red heifer), and then relates the (Everyone is reminded to help out and to women shabbos afternoon and the unfortunate death of Miriam. clean up after your children.) The Jewish people arrived at the shiur at Seudah Shelishis. wilderness of Zin… Miriam dies there and was buried there (Bamidbar 20:20). Boys’ Mishnayos and Boys’ Mishnayos The Talmud (Moed Katan 28a) asks why Women’s shiur 4:00 PM Boys’ mishnayos will take place at the section which relates the death of Seder 7:30 PM 4:00 pm at the shul.
    [Show full text]
  • Lampstand, Levites, Passover, the Cloud Torah Reading
    Numbers8_9_Notes 3/2/19, 2:05 PM March 3, 2019 - Num 8:1 – 9:23 - Lampstand, Levites, Passover, the Cloud Torah Reading: Numbers 8:1 – 9:23 - Lampstand, Levites, Passover, the Cloud Psalm 97 Haftarah: Zechariah 4:1-9 + 6:12-13 Zechariah 2:14-? Lighting of the Lampstand Rashi - Why is the portion dealing with the menorah juxtaposed to the portion dealing with the chieftains? For when Aaron saw the dedication [by their offerings] of the chieftains, he felt distressed over not joining them in this dedication - neither he nor his tribe. So God said to him, “By your life, yours is greater than theirs, for you will light and prepare the lamps.” - [Tanchuma Beha’alothecha 3] Numbers 8:1-2 - "And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron, and say unto him, When thou lightest the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light over against the candlestick." lit., when you "cause to ascend." Since the , ְָתלֲעַהְב .Rashi - “When you light”: Heb flame rises, Scripture describes kindling in terms of ascending. He is required to kindle the lamp until the flame rises by itself (Shab. 21a). Our Sages further expounded from here that there was a step in front of the menorah, on which the kohen stood to prepare [the lamps]. — [Sifrei Beha’alothecha 3] "over against the candlestick" = toward the face of the menorah/lampstand: Toward the middle lamp, which is not on [one of] the branches, but on the menorah itself. — [Men. 98b] Why [were the wicks facing inwards, thus giving off so little light]? So that [people] should not say that He [God] needs the light.
    [Show full text]